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New Sinatra Releases

Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:03 am

For those interested, the Sinatra New York boxed set from a few years back is being re-released at the bargain price of about £15 - but without the Carnegie Hall DVD it seems. So 4CD set of Frank live in New York is still good value - the MSG concert is not the one featured on The Main Event album, but another concert from the same set of gigs. It's not such a good boxed set as the Vegas one that came before it. Sinatra is not on the best form in some of these shows, but they are interesting and feature songs performed live that aren't available live on other albums. Plus there is the lovely performance for the United Nations featuring Sinatra with just a pianist - a serviceman with who he had rehearsed just once shortly prior to the concert. Not only does the young guy perform brilliantly, but Sinatra's rapport with him is really lovely and shows quite a different side to a man known for being brash. All in all the boxed set is a very mixed bag, but the sound is good, and four CDs of live Sinatra at this price isn't to be sniffed at.

Also due out from the PD Get Rhythm label is a double disc of Ring-a-Ding-Ding which purports to be the complete sessions for the album. It isn't, but that's hardly the point - it is a rare chance to get hold of Sinatra studio outtakes in what I'm guessing will be good quality. I know that many of you only think of PD releases as cheap and tacky, but there are some fine labels over here in Europe issuing rare and hard to find jazz material in gorgeous sound and packaging and have been for a number of years. I don't know anything about the Get Rhythm label, though, but my guess is that it something similar to wonderful Essential Jazz Classics, Poll Winners and Gambit labels that have provided us with some real gems over the last decade. So, if alternate takes of Sinatra is something you fancy exploring, then this one might be for you. It's worth mentioning though that the entire session for Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart is already available on the Concord reissue of the album from 2011.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Thu Nov 21, 2013 1:36 pm

Both volumes of Duets were re-issued this week, with bonus tracks. I haven't heard them, but seeing as there are no new songs in there it might be that Sinatra's vocals are identical to what we already have, and only the duettists differ.

Disc: 11. The Lady Is A Tramp - Luther Vandross2. What Now My Love - Aretha Franklin3. I've Got A Crush On You - Barbra Streisand4. Summer Wind - Julio Iglesias5. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Gloria Estefan6. New York, New York - Tony Bennett7. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Natalie Cole8. You Make Me Feel So Young - Charles Aznavour9. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry/In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning - Carly Simon10. I've Got The World On A String - Liza Minnelli11. Witchcraft - Anita Baker12. I've Got You Under My Skin - Bono13. All The Way/One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) Medley - Kenny G14. My Way - Luciano Pavarotti15. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) - Tom ScottDisc: 21. For Once In My Life - Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder2. Come Fly With Me - Luis Miguel3. Bewitched - Patti LaBelle4. The Best Is Yet To Come - Jon Secada5. Moonlight In Vermont - Linda Ronstadt6. Fly Me To The Moon - Antonio Carlos Jobim7. Luck Be A Lady - Chrissie Hynde8. A Foggy Day - Willie Nelson9. Where Or When - Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence10. Embraceable You - Lena Horne11. Mack The Knife - Jimmy Buffett12. How Do You Keep The Music Playing?/My Funny Valentine - Lorrie Morgan13. My Kind Of Town - Frank Sinatra Junior14. The House I Live In (That's America To Me) - Neil Diamond15. My Way - Willie Nelson16. Embraceable You - Tanya Tucker17. Fly Me To The Moon - George Strait

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:08 pm

The Pirate wrote:Both volumes of Duets were re-issued this week, with bonus tracks. I haven't heard them, but seeing as there are no new songs in there it might be that Sinatra's vocals are identical to what we already have, and only the duettists differ.

Disc: 11. The Lady Is A Tramp - Luther Vandross2. What Now My Love - Aretha Franklin3. I've Got A Crush On You - Barbra Streisand4. Summer Wind - Julio Iglesias5. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Gloria Estefan6. New York, New York - Tony Bennett7. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Natalie Cole8. You Make Me Feel So Young - Charles Aznavour9. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry/In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning - Carly Simon10. I've Got The World On A String - Liza Minnelli11. Witchcraft - Anita Baker12. I've Got You Under My Skin - Bono13. All The Way/One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) Medley - Kenny G14. My Way - Luciano Pavarotti15. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) - Tom ScottDisc: 21. For Once In My Life - Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder2. Come Fly With Me - Luis Miguel3. Bewitched - Patti LaBelle4. The Best Is Yet To Come - Jon Secada5. Moonlight In Vermont - Linda Ronstadt6. Fly Me To The Moon - Antonio Carlos Jobim7. Luck Be A Lady - Chrissie Hynde8. A Foggy Day - Willie Nelson9. Where Or When - Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence10. Embraceable You - Lena Horne11. Mack The Knife - Jimmy Buffett12. How Do You Keep The Music Playing?/My Funny Valentine - Lorrie Morgan13. My Kind Of Town - Frank Sinatra Junior14. The House I Live In (That's America To Me) - Neil Diamond15. My Way - Willie Nelson16. Embraceable You - Tanya Tucker17. Fly Me To The Moon - George Strait

It's basically the same as what was released twenty years ago, but with a couple of bonus tracks which were released elsewhere or discarded for one reason or another. A missed opportunity to present us with Sinatra's solo renditions from 1993 which were then butchered in order to make the duets.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Thu Nov 21, 2013 6:36 pm

I've always rated the New York box set and Sinatra's performances from 1974 higher than you do, poormadpeter, but this release at a discounted price is a steal. It's not as coherent as the Vegas box, but there's a long time-line of great concerts there. Hopefully, a third volume will materialise at some point.

I'll be buying the Ring-a-Ding Ding sessions, though. As you've mentioned, officially released outtakes from Sinatra are rare as hen's teeth, so this will probably hold a few surprises. Still, when the masters are that good, who needs to hear every take?! I'm in less of a rush to repurchase the Duets albums, which I also like more than you do, but I would like to hear those unused tracks. And although I agree with you on the quality of the raw session tapes from Duets, those recordings were made for the purpose of being duets, so I guess that's how they'll always be presented. I'm just glad that Sinatra got a last hurrah in the recording studio, and, given his age and health issues, rose to the occasion. Especially when he had his own reservations about his voice and the project at large. Until he got comfortable in the studio and heard the results, of course.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:15 pm

greystoke wrote:I've always rated the New York box set and Sinatra's performances from 1974 higher than you do, poormadpeter, but this release at a discounted price is a steal. It's not as coherent as the Vegas box, but there's a long time-line of great concerts there. Hopefully, a third volume will materialise at some point.

I'll be buying the Ring-a-Ding Ding sessions, though. As you've mentioned, officially released outtakes from Sinatra are rare as hen's teeth, so this will probably hold a few surprises. Still, when the masters are that good, who needs to hear every take?! I'm in less of a rush to repurchase the Duets albums, which I also like more than you do, but I would like to hear those unused tracks. And although I agree with you on the quality of the raw session tapes from Duets, those recordings were made for the purpose of being duets, so I guess that's how they'll always be presented. I'm just glad that Sinatra got a last hurrah in the recording studio, and, given his age and health issues, rose to the occasion. Especially when he had his own reservations about his voice and the project at large. Until he got comfortable in the studio and heard the results, of course.

It's mostly the MSG televised performance I have a problem with, although I found the famed 1974 Carnegie Hall concert to be a let down on this set - Sinatra makes a number of mistakes in the first third of the show and seems really uncomfortable for a while.. The live Ballpark is wonderful though. It's a shame this appears to be without the DVD, as I thought that was the most interesting show of the lot (United Nations mini-concert aside), especially as there are some rare live outings of the Trilogy material.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:23 pm

Is there going to be a duet with Susan Boyle any time soon? Perhaps on something like "Luck Be A Lady"?

That would be awesome.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:03 pm

Set for release on January 28th is a new Sinatra compilation entitled, Sinatra, With Love. Featured is a combination of recordings made for both Capitol and Reprise studios, whilst the track-listing is typical of Sinatra compilations in that a diversity of recordings have been chosen. Especially Frank's last recording for Reprise, his 1988 version of My Foolish Heart. But this is a splendid looking release from top-to-bottom and will be worthwhile even for fans who own this material, given how unique the selection is.

1. Moonlight Becomes You 2. Love Is Here To Stay3. Just One Of Those Things4. Misty5. Nice ‘N’ Easy 6. It Could Happen To You7. The Way You Look Tonight 8. Love Looks So Well On You9. (Love Is) The Tender Trap10. I Love You11. The Look Of Love 12. Something's Gotta Give13. From This Moment On14. Wave15. It Had To Be You16. My Foolish Heart

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:31 pm

greystoke wrote:Set for release on January 28th is a new Sinatra compilation entitled, Sinatra, With Love. Featured is a combination of recordings made for both Capitol and Reprise studios, whilst the track-listing is typical of Sinatra compilations in that a diversity of recordings have been chosen. Especially Frank's last recording for Reprise, his 1988 version of My Foolish Heart. But this is a splendid looking release from top-to-bottom and will be worthwhile even for fans who own this material, given how unique the selection is.

1. Moonlight Becomes You 2. Love Is Here To Stay3. Just One Of Those Things4. Misty5. Nice ‘N’ Easy 6. It Could Happen To You7. The Way You Look Tonight 8. Love Looks So Well On You9. (Love Is) The Tender Trap10. I Love You11. The Look Of Love 12. Something's Gotta Give13. From This Moment On14. Wave15. It Had To Be You16. My Foolish Heart

My Foolish Heart is quite a gem, and shows how good that album of upbeat versions of ballads could have been had it been completed. Unlike yourself, I thought this was quite a lazy release given what has come over the last few years, and that the choice of songs was rather odd. That said, it's nice to see The Look of Love and Love Looks So Well on You getting rare airings. My hope that Universal will do a mopping up exercise of the Reprise tracks not on their reissues or original albums will just have to wait, it seems!

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:50 pm

If the ring a ding sessions cd is the same as the boot from the 90's it is essential.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Well, it will be the same material, that's for sure. Or mostly, at least. I'm not quite sure where this new release fits legally - the releasing of outtakes is a very grey area. Since the 50 year rule applies to 50 years after release, not recording, Zing Went the Strings on the new release (at the very least) is still in copyright for around another 25 years! Whether there is a legal loophole with regards to this, I'm not sure - similar issues have been made of pre-1963 material released on FTD too. I think it's more a case of record companies turning a blind eye.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:16 am

Incidentally, the reissue of Sinatra: New York was highlighted in the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine yesterday, and makes for a nice looking set in stores. It's housed in one of those double-tray boxes, as per The Capitol Years set.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Tue Dec 24, 2013 3:20 am

greystoke wrote:Incidentally, the reissue of Sinatra: New York was highlighted in the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine yesterday, and makes for a nice looking set in stores. It's housed in one of those double-tray boxes, as per The Capitol Years set.

Yes, I've seen it in HMV - nice prezzie for fans at £18 (at least, that's the price in HMV). No DVD this time around, though, which is a shame as it's probably the most interesting performance on the original set as there's some nice live versions of Trilogy material on there - although you do want to scream at the TV and tell him the collar of his shirt is caught on his suit jacket!

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:17 pm

What would be good as the ultimate collection all the hits and rarities from all the labels in remastered form from the original master tapes and metal parts used to make the sources to 78 rpm in the 30s and 40s.I think all the early recordings are pd now.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:04 pm

ritchie valens wrote:What would be good as the ultimate collection all the hits and rarities from all the labels in remastered form from the original master tapes and metal parts used to make the sources to 78 rpm in the 30s and 40s.I think all the early recordings are pd now.

Frank Sinatra: A Voice in Time is among the best Sinatra box sets ever released, which is saying something, considering the quality of Sinatra box sets released over the years. But this is one of my favourites; it's a lovely set with stellar content and splendid sound. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Fri Dec 27, 2013 11:28 pm

Can any of you Sinatra experts tell me if the song 'I Believe I'm Gonna Love You' was ever featured on a Sinatra cd compilation? It's one of those songs that I still hear every now and then on some Dutch radio stations (it got to #11 in Holland in 1975), yet, I can't seem to find it on any cd. Which is a shame, as far as I'm concerned, 'cause I love the song.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Fri Dec 27, 2013 11:58 pm

Shakin48 wrote:Can any of you Sinatra experts tell me if the song 'I Believe I'm Gonna Love You' was ever featured on a Sinatra cd compilation? It's one of those songs that I still hear every now and then on some Dutch radio stations (it got to #11 in Holland in 1975), yet, I can't seem to find it on any cd. Which is a shame, as far as I'm concerned, 'cause I love the song.

I Believe I'm Gonna Love You was featured on the 1977 compilation Portrait of Sinatra, which was No. 1 in the UK. It's a fine track from a great collection.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:30 am

greystoke wrote:

Shakin48 wrote:Can any of you Sinatra experts tell me if the song 'I Believe I'm Gonna Love You' was ever featured on a Sinatra cd compilation? It's one of those songs that I still hear every now and then on some Dutch radio stations (it got to #11 in Holland in 1975), yet, I can't seem to find it on any cd. Which is a shame, as far as I'm concerned, 'cause I love the song.

I Believe I'm Gonna Love You was featured on the 1977 compilation Portrait of Sinatra, which was No. 1 in the UK. It's a fine track from a great collection.

But that's vinyl, or has that compilation been reissued on cd as well?

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:32 am

Shakin48 wrote:Can any of you Sinatra experts tell me if the song 'I Believe I'm Gonna Love You' was ever featured on a Sinatra cd compilation? It's one of those songs that I still hear every now and then on some Dutch radio stations (it got to #11 in Holland in 1975), yet, I can't seem to find it on any cd. Which is a shame, as far as I'm concerned, 'cause I love the song.

The only CD release so far is the 20CD Complete Reprise Studio Recordings. Universal have released all the original Reprise albums over the last few years in very nice editions. I'm still hoping that at some point in the near future we will see a mopping up exercise where the "rare" reprise recordings are pulled together in a 3 or 4 cd boxed set. But no sign of such a project as yet.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Sat Dec 28, 2013 1:13 am

poormadpeter wrote:Universal have released all the original Reprise albums over the last few years in very nice editions. I'm still hoping that at some point in the near future we will see a mopping up exercise where the "rare" reprise recordings are pulled together in a 3 or 4 cd boxed set. But no sign of such a project as yet.

Yes I know, and I've got several of those editions. They are great! So, fingers crossed then and maybe we'll get lucky. Anyway, thanks for the answer.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:15 am

I have a bootleg of Frank's vocals for the first Duets album. It has a couple of more songs than appeared on the Duets album. Frank laid down the tracks, and then it was sent to the artists to chime in their vocal on whichever song they were "duetting." I prefer the album with just Frank's vocals. Why? Because his voice has aged like wine; there's the sound of a cello in it, strong, rich, deep, kind of sweet, but a certain vulnerability. The boot with Frank's solo vocals is an absolute must for anyone who savors older Sinatra. I wish it were officially released.

Re: New Sinatra Releases

Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:03 pm

Richard--W wrote:I have a bootleg of Frank's vocals for the first Duets album. It has a couple of more songs than appeared on the Duets album. Frank laid down the tracks, and then it was sent to the artists to chime in their vocal on whichever song they were "duetting." I prefer the album with just Frank's vocals. Why? Because his voice has aged like wine; there's the sound of a cello in it, strong, rich, deep, kind of sweet, but a certain vulnerability. The boot with Frank's solo vocals is an absolute must for anyone who savors older Sinatra. I wish it were officially released.

Yes, I agree - I thought the recent Duets re-release would include them, but sadly not.